A. House and Government Purpose
1. Goals. We, the residents of 400 Monroe Lane, endeavor to create a government to secure and promote our goals:
- linguistic immersion in one of several selected world languages
- promotion of culture consistent with the experience of speakers of that language
- increased awareness and understanding of global culture, especially of the represented languages
A. Parts of
Government
1. Governmental Object. The house government shall exist to ensure that the house goals are fulfilled.
2. Committee System. For this purpose there shall be a system of committees, each committee charged with the task of pursuing a unique dimension of these goals.
3. Board of Chairpersons. To coordinate and oversee the efforts of the committees, there shall exist a board of committee chairpersons.
4. Advisors. To assist and counsel the board of chairpersons there shall exist a group of house advisors selected by the University.
A. Committees
1. Two Types of Committees. To enable the committee system to most effectively pursue house goals, there shall be two types of committees, language/culture committees and functional committees. A language/cultural committee shall exist for every language represented in the house to directly pursue the house goals from a single language/cultural perspective. Functional committees shall also pursue these goals, integrating the interests of all residents.
2. Committee Membership. Each committee shall be composed of all residents interested in assuming all or part of said committee responsibilities and willing to attend committee meetings. If a resident chooses to be a member of a language/culture committee, s/he must first be a member of the language/culture committee of the group with which s/he is officially living in the house before holding any other language/culture committee positions.
3. Committee Chairpersons. Functional committees shall select, via a democratic process, one member to serve as chairperson. Language/culture committees shall be chaired by the Language Assistant (LA) for each language. If a language has more than one LA, each LA shall serve an equal and uninterrupted term as committee chairperson. Chairpersons shall chair no more than one committee.
4. Chairperson Responsibilities. The chairperson shall lead all committee meetings, organize and coordinate committee efforts, inform the Board of Chairpersons of the committee’s progress and plans, and be held accountable for the fulfillment of all committee responsibilities.
B. Board of Chairpersons
1. Board Composition. In addition to their capacities as leaders of individual committees, all chairpersons shall serve on a single board to coordinate and oversee the efforts of the committees.
2. Board Responsibilities. The primary responsibility of this Board of Chairpersons is to see that the collective object of all committees is pursued in concert with the goals of the house.
3. Financial Authority. The Board of Chairpersons shall be the final authority in all matters of house finances, except where changes may be amended.
4. Board Decisions. All decisions brought before the Board of Chairpersons shall require a simple majority vote of members present.
C. Advisors
1. Advisors. The Advisors to the Board shall consist of the House Director (a faculty member), the Coordinator of Programs, and Language House Advisor (a Resident Staff employee) selected through established avenues of the University.
2. Advisor Responsibilities. The primary responsibility of the Advisors is seeing that the Board of Chairpersons pursues its said object. The Advisors shall assist in steering the various committees.
3. Scholarships. Advisors shall oversee any scholarship programs in the House and use their discretion in conjunction with the Board of Chairpersons regarding scholarship issues.
A. Board of
Chairpersons Meetings
1. Bi-Weekly Meetings. The Board of Chairpersons and its Advisors shall convene at a bi-weekly* meeting to discuss house business.
2. Meeting Leader. At every meeting, one of the chairpersons present shall serve as leader, convening, conducting, and adjourning the meeting.
3. Chairperson Reports. Chairpersons shall deliver a report on the business of their committee at the Board of Chairpersons meeting.
4. Voting. Each chairperson shall have one vote at Board meetings. The meeting leader shall clearly announce the voting options before the vote is taken: “yes,” “no,” or some other unbiased representative word/phrase. In addition, “abstain” shall always be an option.
5. Anonymous Voting. Should any chairperson or advisor request an anonymous vote, voting procedure shall proceed as follows: Chairpersons shall silently write their vote on a card, fold it once, and pass it to the meeting leader, who shall in all cases count the votes and announce the total number of votes received for each voting option. All chairpersons shall use identical cards, which shall be provided by the Communications Committee. In the case that the number of votes received does not match exactly the number of chairpersons or proxy chairpersons present, a revote shall be taken.
6. Proxy Chairpersons. Any chairperson may assign any member of their respective committee to vote at the Board of Chairpersons meetings in their absence.
7. Quorum. A quorum for Board of Chairpersons meetings shall be nine members.
8. Open Meetings. All Board of Chairpersons meetings shall be open to all residents of the house.
9. Meeting Time. The regular meeting time of the Board of Chairpersons shall be disseminated to all residents.
10. Constitutional Reference. A copy of this Constitution in its entirety shall be present at all Board of Chairpersons meetings.
11. Veto Power. The House Director shall have an incontestable right to veto any proposed spending or activity if, after providing adequate advice, such spending or activity is inconsistent with University policy or Article I.
B. Committee
Meetings
1. Regular Meetings. Individual committees shall meet independently on a regular basis.
2. Open Meetings. All committee meetings shall be open to all residents of the house.
C. Amendment
and Ratification Process
1. Approval of All Residents. Amendments/By-Laws to this Constitution (including initial ratification) shall require majority approval via referendum to all residents of the house.
2. Amendment Proposals. Any resident may submit a written proposal for a Constitutional Amendment to the Board of Chairpersons.
3. Amendment Referenda. For an Amendment proposal to be referred to the resident body, two-thirds consent of the Board of Chairpersons is required.
4. Board Approval. The Board of Chairpersons shall be required to vote on proposed amendments after reasonable consideration. This vote shall take place on or no more* than four weeks from the date the amendment is proposed, excluding weeks that the Board of Chairpersons is in recess for official University holidays.
A. House Finances
Extending upon the relationship between the Board of Chairpersons and Financial Committee described in Article III, Section B above:
1. Semester Budget. Majority approval via referendum to all residents of the house shall approve, for each semester, a budget proposed by the Financial Committee. Such a proposal shall provide no less than a thirty percent allocation of total house funds to the Functional Committees. In addition, spending shall not exceed the total monies available to the house.
2. Committee Expenses. All expenses of all committees must be approved by the Board of Chairpersons. Each expense must be sponsored by a chairperson, who shall present it before the Board of Chairpersons, stating its consistency with one or more of the goals in Article I. In addition, if an expense of a Functional Committee is to exceed fifty percent of the total Functional Committee budget, it must be approved via referendum by a majority of residents of the house.
3. Reimbursement Form. All expenses must be clearly documented on an MLLH Reimbursement Form and signed by the purchaser, the Financial Committee Chairperson, and the Coordinator of Programs or House Director. The reimbursement form shall be submitted to the Chairperson of the Financial Committee.
4.
University Liaison. The Financial Committee chairperson shall be
the sole liaison between the University and the House Government where
financial matters are concerned.
A. Language/Culture Committees
1. Language/Culture Committees. Each language/culture committee shall promote their language and culture, as well as provide programming within the respective language group and house-at-large.
B. Functional Committees
1.
Communication Committee. There shall be a Communication Committee
responsible for: development and maintenance of a house website, e-mailing the house
concerning Board proceedings, archiving of these e-mails for house records, house
publicity, taking meeting notes/minutes.
2.
Cultural Convergence Committee. There shall be a Cultural Convergence
Committee responsible for: organizing cultural programming beyond the scope of
a single language group, possible development of a house library.
3.
Facilities Committee. There shall be a Facilities Committee
responsible for: corresponding with UVa Housing Division and Maintenance to improve
the house, responsibility for parking issues, responsibility for mailroom
issues, decorating and maintaining public spaces, coordinating use of meeting
rooms, possible computer lab.**
5.
Culinary Committee.
There shall be a Culinary Committee responsible for: setting and
enforcing kitchen rules, purchasing kitchen supplies, managing kitchen cleanup
system, corresponding with UVa Dining Services and chef to improve food and
promote culture.
6.
Social Committee.
There shall be a Social Committee responsible for: organizing parties,
organizing service events, coordinating intramural sports.
7. Media Committee. There shall be a Media Committee responsible for: satellite television programming, obtaining subscriptions to print and electronic media in the House’s languages, other media issues.
C. Additional Responsibilities
1. No Limitation on Committee Responsibilities. Each committee’s responsibilities shall not be limited to those enumerated, but shall include additional responsibilities within its general scope and consistent with Article I.
2. Committee Activity Proposals. Each committee chairperson shall present, by the second meeting of each semester, a statement of the committee’s proposed semester activities and approximate expenses, demonstrating their consistency with Article I.